Sarasota County teachers picket for a pay raise

Elizabeth Djinis Staff Writer @djinisinabottle

Tuesday

Jan 9, 2018 at 10:25 PMJan 9, 2018 at 11:06 PM

More than 400 Sarasota County teachers, classified employees and community members picketed outside of the school district’s Landings Boulevard headquarters Tuesday afternoon, demonstrating in front of the administration for the first time in almost 30 years, according to union leaders.

Demonstrators waved at passing cars and held signs, many of them detailing the economic hardships they had to endure because of their salaries. One sign read, “I rent out my house to afford health care for my daughter,” and another said, “Our staff should not qualify for food stamps.”

Although the union’s disagreement is largely with how teachers hired before July 1, 2014, known as grandfathered teachers, are being paid, many of the teachers and classified professionals who came out said insufficient salaries are a problem across the board. Many of them have to work second jobs or work 10 to 12 hours a day without receiving overtime pay, they said.

“We’re out here because we want the school district to know that we are the backbone of the school district,” said Sarasota High School math teacher Mike Tierney. “It’s about teachers being compensated accordingly.”

Tierney said he makes $43,000 a year and has 15 years of teaching experience. He argued that it was unfair that an entry-level teacher will make $45,000, according to the district’s contract proposal, meaning that a teacher with less experience will make more than he.

The picketing comes after contract negotiations between the union and school district have worn on for more than four months. The key sticking point between both sides is how much grandfathered teachers, based on state law passed in 2011, should be compensated in the 2018-19 school year.

The district’s proposal is a step progression for grandfathered teachers’ salary schedules, about a 1 to 1.5 percent raise based on how many years they have been with the district, but those teachers who have been with the district more than 29 years, essentially reaching the top step, will be given a 1.5 percent one-time supplement and a $600 bonus. The union has asked for a 2 percent pay increase across the board and a step increase for those still on the salary schedule.

Superintendent Todd Bowden has said there is little room for his team to budge, citing the state law that mandated merit-based pay and required highly effective teachers hired after July 1, 2014, to receive more than the highest raise for any teachers hired before that date with the same rating.

“I was moved by the teachers who spoke tonight. My spine chills when people attack teachers. But I can’t pay them what I want to pay them,” Bowden said.

Under the same state law, teachers on the grandfathered salary schedule can move to the performance pay salary schedule, but they would forfeit their right to tenure and be evaluated on an annual contract. They would also lose certain benefits that come with longevity, Bowden said.

But Bowden encouraged teachers to switch over to the performance pay schedule for its benefits.

“I want the money to go toward performance pay,” Bowden said. “I think the best teachers in our district should be paid the most.”

Last year, almost 63 percent of teachers were ranked highly effective and almost 37 percent were rated effective. Less than 1 percent of teachers received the lower rankings of “needs improvement” or “developing.”

While most of the School Board members mentioned arts performances they had witnessed over winter break during their final comment period, they did not comment on the more than 500 teachers who picketed outside of the headquarters for almost two hours before the board meeting or the two teachers who spoke during the meeting.

A bargaining session was scheduled for Friday, but Sarasota Classified/Teachers Association Executive Director Barry Dubin wrote to Bowden Tuesday morning asking to cancel the session, claiming that the district could not offer a new proposal by then since the School Board had not scheduled another executive session to discuss the contract.

Sarasota County has about 2,749 teachers, with an average starting salary of $42,000, as of the 2017-18 year. Grandfathered teachers at the district make between $39,783 and $78,275, depending on whether they have a bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate degree.

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